Gelendzhik

Gelendzhik ( _ru. Геленджи́к) is a resort town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated on the Gelendzhik Bay of the Black Sea, between Novorossiysk (31 km to the northwest) and Tuapse (93 km to the southeast). The municipality of Greater Gelendzhik spawls for 102 kilometers along the coastline and covers an area of 122,754 ha (of which only 1,926 ha fall within the boundaries of Gelendzhik proper). Population: ru-census|p2002=50012|p1989=47711

In antiquity, the Gelendzhik Bay was the site of a minor Greek outpost, mentioned as Torikos in the Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax. It is unknown to Hellenistic sources, but reappears in Roman ones under the name of Pagrae in 64 BC. [A tiny Greek settlement excavated in Gelendzhik has been identified by some researchers with Torikos. Pagrae was described as an eastern limit of the Bosporan Kingdom. The record of these settlements is so fragmentary that it's impossible to make sound conclusions. See: Онайко Н.А., Архаический Торик. Античный город на северо-востоке Понта. Moscow, 1980.] The colony was wiped out by the invading Huns, which were succeeded by the Zygii soon after. During the Middle Ages, the bay was of some mercantile importance to the Genoese traders who referred to the seaside village as Maurolaca.

Before Russia secured the coast by the Treaty of Adrianople (1829), a brisk slave trade had been carried on between the mountaineers and the Ottoman Empire. Since the Circassian beauties were usually traded for gold and other commodities before being taken to Turkish seraglios, the market place became known as "Gelendzhik" (literally, "white brides"). In 1831, one of the first forts of the Black Sea Coastal Line was set up at Gelendzhik. At the outbreak of the Crimean War the fort had to be blown up and abandoned, but it was resettled by the Cossacks in 1864, at the conclusion of the Russian-Circassian hostilities, and became known as Stanitsa Gelendzhiksaya. The town of Gelendzhik was incorporated in 1915.

During the Soviet period, Gelendzhik was developed as a spa. It possesses sand beaches, three waterparks, two aerial tramway lines, and two Orthodox churches (from 1909 and 1913, respectively). The environs of Gelendzhik are noted for a chain of waterfalls, an outcrop of dolmens, two extremely ancient pine and juniper groves, and the Sail Rock, located 17 km from the downtown core. The coastal village of Arkhipo-Osipovka, administrated from Gelendzhik, contains the terminus of the Blue Stream gas pipeline. An annual hydroaviasalon is held in Gelendzhik since 1996.

Twin towns

Gelendzhik is a twin town of Blyth Valley, England, [cite web
title=Town twinning
work=www.blythvalley.gov.uk
url=http://www.blythvalley.gov.uk/Default.aspx?page=7330
accessdate=2007-06-04] Angouleme, France, and Hildesheim, Germany.

References